Unofficial Portkey Archive

Muggle Summer

A/N:I started writing this story almost exactly two years ago. I had no idea at the time that I'd still be at it, 60 chapters, 250,000 words, and 2,000 reviews later. A huge thanks to everyone who has provided the encouragement to keep the narrative going. My apologies in advance if I've celebrated these milestones with a supersized update that is borderline self-indulgent.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, no money being made, etc., etc.

oo00OO00oo

Chapter 60: The Norsca Network

Tuesday, July 10, 2000 GMT (8:00pm local time)
15 Dingle Grove, Liverpool, England

The Domino's pizza guy walked up to the door of the nondescript terrace house with cautious optimism. He'd delivered pizzas to that particular address three times over the past week; each experience had been bizarrely unique, but also highly profitable.

A curtain parted on a side window when he rang the bell…a few seconds later, a lock was unlatched and the door slowly opened.

"What do you have there?" demanded the fat-faced man who stuck his head out of the door.

"Erm…pizza, sir…you ordered two exta-large Onion and Meat Pies and a large Americano?"

"How much this time?"

"Sixty pounds, ten, sir."

"Right, then…come on in."

The pizza guy nodded as the fat-faced man held the door open to let him in. Neither noticed the stifled snort of laughter as Harry Potter slipped out the open door under cover of his invisibility cloak.

The Queen's Wizard walked down to the end of the street at a brisk pace, towards a small van that advertised plumbing repair services. A knock on the rear door gained him entry; inside he found two men and the cover needed to discretely remove his invisibility cloak.

A masked man dressed in black showed little care to hide his scorn when he asked, "Your report, sir?"

Harry looked at the SAS team lead, then turned towards a far friendlier (and less covered) face and rolled his eyes.

"Anything new during your look-see, Major Potter?" asked New Six.

The Queen's Wizard shook his head. "Still the same crew of Death Eaters, and the pizza guy is still robbing them blind."

"You failed to notice anything new?" asked the SAS man.

Harry turned back to the soldier and frowned. "Well, as a matter of fact, I did. The pile of dirty dishes in the sink is six inches higher, there's a hole smashed into the upstairs telly screen, and they've finally figured out how to replace empty bog rolls."

"I meant anything of consequence to the assault, sir."

Harry scowled. "Well, I wouldn't know about that would I? Seeing as how I still haven't been told how we're going in and when."

The SAS soldier snorted. "Right, then…I think it's time for you to hocus-pocus off to Cardiff…Team A is expecting you."

When the soldier's dismissal was capped off by a sarcastically crisp salute, Harry replied in kind, and bolted out of the van with New Six close behind. As soon as their boots hit the ground the van sped off.

As Harry watched the vehicle disappear with a hard left turn, he said, "Let me guess, New Six…you were taught manners somewhere other than Sport and Social's finishing school?"

The TPOMS member who had stepped up to serve as the Queen's Wizard's liaison to the SAS team in Liverpool smiled.

"Oh, don't mind Roberts, Major," he replied. "He treats every officer in the British Army that way."

"Nah, you've seen them New Six," Harry replied. "They all have that crappy attitude towards me."

"Comes with the territory, Major," New Six replied. "SAS is the best of the best…they think everybody in the regular army are useless gits."

"Right, then, I'm off," Harry said, expecting no better treatment from the counter-terrorism team staked out at the Death Eater safe house in Wales.

Tuesday, July 10, 2030 GMT (9:30pm local time)
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Norway

When the pilot of the Oslo-bound British Airways flight announced that it had been cleared for landing, Hermione Granger slipped the briefing documents that she'd been reviewing into her brief case.
The Club Class flight attended approached the young witch and asked, "Can I stow that for you again, Ambassador?"

Hermione smiled thinly and nodded; as she had been assigned the front row aisle seat, there was no seat in front of her under which a carry-on bag could be tucked. With hands now free to clutch the arm rests, Hermione closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths (for she liked flying in airplanes only slightly better than flying on broomsticks), and mentally reviewed her mission.

Her primary goal was simple…deliver the Prime Minister's letter and supporting evidence to the Supreme Mugwump and return home as quickly as possible. There was to be no lengthy discussions or negotiations, or direct requests for aid from the ICW; things were too fluid in Britain and their knowledge of how the international wizard community worked too uncertain to risk overplaying their hand.

The Queen's assistance had done much to facilitate this mission. That afternoon, Hermione had received telephone calls and offers of aid from both the Norwegian King's and Japanese Emperor's personal wizards. That Hermione was now on a flight to Norway reflected the fact that the Norwegian King's Wizard had suggested viable methods of transportation, and offered to escort Hermione during her trip.

This first leg of that trip to Japan would be both the shortest in distance, and the longest in time length. While it would have taken no more effort to apparate from Edinburgh to Oslo then to London, the international boundaries between magical sovereign states were highly warded, and there was simply no way one could apparate or use a portkey across the frontier without the Ministry of Magic being made aware of the fact. Once Hermione was outside of Britain, however, the British Ministry of Magic could no longer track her movement.

As the plane touched ground and began to taxi towards the terminal, the flight attendant returned with both Hermione's portfolio and a message.

"The cockpit's received word from the tower that your escort will meet you within the jetway."

"Thank you," Hermione replied, slightly embarrassed for all of the personal attention. That embarrassment only grew when the captain purposely kept the "fasten seat-belt" lights on after the airplane came to a full stop, just so the flight attendants could escort her to the front of the plane even before the cabin door was opened.

A tall man smartly dressed in a grey suit, open-collared dress shirt and a well-trimmed white goatee was waiting on the other side of the cabin door. A look of surprise washed over his face when she stepped out of the airplane, but he quickly recovered, held out his hand and greeted Hermione using fluent English.

"Welcome to Norway, Ambassador Granger. My name is Ole Thorson…we chatted on the telephone this afternoon."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you," she replied, as she warily shook his hand. "How is your Uncle Olav?"

The man smiled as he opened up his suit jacket and revealed the Grand Cross Badge and Star, a medal that signified membership within the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

"And you have some rather remarkable jewelry as well, Dame Hermione?" he asked.

The young Ambassador returned the smile as she opened up her own suit jacket to reveal her Order of Arthur badge. With identities thus confirmed, the man led Hermione up the ramp towards the terminal building.

Along the way, Hermione's escort asked, "How is it that the Prime Minister of Great Britain's Special Ambassador to the Wizarding World is so young, and so beautiful?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, wondering if she had another flirty Sir Evan on her hands.

"And how is it," she asked in reply, "that the Norwegian King's Wizard speaks the Queen's English with a Midwestern American accent?"

The King's Wizard looked at his young charge and chuckled. "It appears that we both have stories to share along the way."

Hermione nodded. "I'm looking forward to it."

By this point they had reached the immigration control station, where two uniformed men waved them by at the sight of her diplomatic passport.

"They don't need to mark my passport?" Hermione asked.

Thorson shook his head. "Even muggle diplomats get waved through on occasion…plenty of times when you don't want your travel to sensitive meeting locations documented within your papers."

Hermione nodded, noting that her escort was leading her down an empty hallway.

"Seems rather empty," she noted.

"Your flight was diverted to a special gate," the elderly wizard replied. And as they turned the corner and entered a much larger concourse Hermione did indeed see the typical patrons of a busy international airport.

Her escort led her to a door marked as a family lavatory.

"Don't mind the subterfuge," Thorson said, as he gestured towards the door.

"Oh," said Hermione, "if you'd excuse me, I promised the Prime Minister that I'd call…probably should do that when a satellite phone still works."

The elderly man nodded in understanding as Hermione stepped a few paces back up the hallway to make the calls. She then joined the Norwegian escort inside the empty loo, where he drew his wand and walked over to a drop-down baby's changing table. When he tapped the picture of a koala in a five point sequence, the table folded into the wall, revealing a fireplace floo connection.

"Direct link to Dyrrheim," explained Thorson, as he lit the fire with his wand and gestured towards a pot of floo powder. "So don't worry about tripping your tongue over the Old Norse."

Hermione nodded as she threw the powder into the fire and, once the color changed, stepped into the flames. It only took a few seconds for her to be dumped out into a cavernous underground complex that resembled a Victorian-era train station. Except, of course, for the clear signs that this was a magical transportation hub…robes instead of jackets, levitation charms instead of luggage carts, and goblins instead of ATMs or electronic currency exchangers. And above it all was a free-floating sign that announced she was now within "Dyrrheim Station."

The Special Ambassador to the Wizarding World stepped to one side of the fireplace and pulled a miniature piece of luggage from a pocket. When her escort stepped through the flames she asked for someplace to switch into robes, and was led to an area with individual changing rooms. Once inside, she swapped out her two-piece suit for silk Clan Potter robes, and replaced low-healed pumps with soft leather boots. Hermione smiled when she checked her appearance in a magical mirror…it was a lot easier to ignore its disparaging comments about her bushy hair when they were made in a language that she didn't understand.

During this time Hermione prioritized questions to be asked of the King's Wizard. Many of those questions had to do with the two huge wall maps that hung above the ticket counters. Once she stepped out of the changing room she reexamined those maps.

On one side was a geopolitical map of the muggle world, while on the other was a corresponding projection of the wizarding realm. There were relatively few differences within Europe… the most obvious, based on the maps' projection, was that Scandinavia was united under the name "Norseland." Meanwhile, the other continents were a wash of different colors and rearranged boundaries. The Incas, Mayas and other ancient empires and long lost civilizations lived on this foreign map, along side major continent-wide confederations; Sub-Saharan Africa was mostly one color, as was that portion of North America north of muggle Mexico.

Population centers on these maps were linked by an interconnected series of lines that formed an expansive hub-and-spoke network centered on stations in Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. Hermione noticed that almost all of the line segments on these maps were the same length.

Hermione's escort stepped out of his changing room wearing navy blue robes trimmed with red and asked, "Have you figured out those maps yet."

"A magical transportation network," Hermione decided. "Each of those small segments must be about two-hundred and fifty miles apart?"

The King's Wizard nodded. "Closer to three hundred, actually."

"And that's the practical distance limit for single apparition jumps," Hermione noted.

"It is indeed," the wizard said with a smile. "Welcome to the central hub of the Norsca Network…from here it's literally a hop and a jump to just about anyplace in the world."

Hermione nodded as she dropped her gaze back down to the people walking about the station. The mixture of robes, skin tones, and languages reminded her of the tent camp established outside the Quidditch World Cup stadium.

Her escort looked down at his muggle watch. "It's 2100 GMT, and Japan is plus nine hours…we are to meet the Emperor's Wizard at Kyoto Station in exactly two hours and forty five minutes. Would you'd like to take a few minutes to look around, or get a cup of tea?"

The young witch snorted. "I think that I could spend hours just in front of those maps," she replied.

"Then I know just the place."

As the wizard led Hermione towards a coffee shop, he couldn't help but notice Hermione's continued interest in the map of the wizarding world.

"I gather that they don't teach geography at Hogwarts, then?" he finally asked.

Hermione shifted her gaze from the map back to her escort and laughed. "No, the only time that the British wizarding world ever seems to be interested in what lies beyond our shores is during Quidditch World Cup."

Thorson nodded in acknowledgement. As they passed by a small bookshop he suddenly decided to pull Hermione inside.

"How did you know I was a book-lover?" she said.

The wizard only smiled in reply as he spoke a few words of Norwegian to the bookseller. The witch nodded, and pointed towards a specific bookshelf, from which a specific book was selected and paid for.

"A present in honor of your first diplomatic mission," Thorson said, as he handed Hermione the book.

"A Concise History of the World of Witches and Wizards," Hermione read. "By…." She then looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"You wrote this?" she asked.

The wizard nodded. "I teach Magical History at the University of Oslo," he noted. "I turned my lecture notes into a textbook thirty years ago…some folks think that it is pretty good."

Hermione's eyes let up as she skimmed over the table of contents.

"Thank you Dr. Thorson," she replied. "Our history classes at Hogwarts rarely go beyond the Goblin Wars."

The kindly wizard nodded and smiled, as if he were well aware of his ghostly colleague's syllabus. He then led her to a coffee shop whose round tabletops were each charmed to provide a view of the Norsca network overlain on a polar projection of the world. With a swish or flick of a wand, a witch or wizard could zoom the view in or out, and change the view to hover over anyplace in the world.

Hermione was torn between diving into the book and playing with the tabletop. Finally deciding that it would be harder to take the table home with her, Hermione chose to examine the map

She pointed down at the table and asked, "So we're taking the long way to Japan?"

The wizard nodded. "We'd have to break up the trip either way…portkeys aren't very reliable beyond 6,000 miles."

"We're traveling by portkey rather than apparition?"

Thorson nodded. "We'd run out of magical reserves over Greenland if we tried to make that many jumps in a row."

Counting up line segments between Norway and North America, she asked, "Ten apparition jumps from here to North America?"

"That's right," the wizard replied. "From Dyrrheim to Bergen on the Atlantic coast, and from there to the Shetland Islands…from the Shetlands to the Faroe Islands, then to Iceland, and Greenland…around the coast of Greenland and over to Baffin Island, and finally to North America proper. Six jumps from Baffin Island and you could be eating my mother's hot dish back home on the shores of Lake Wobegon."

Hermione's eyes sparkled. "That brings us back to how an American became a Norwegian King's Wizard."

Thorson nodded. "I was born and raised in Elgurland…that's the northern two-thirds of muggle Minnesota and Wisconsin," he replied.

"Were your parents both magical?"

"No, only my father was," the wizard replied. "It's hard for Norwegian wizard farmers to find witches willing to live on the edge of the prairie, don't you know?"

"A wizard farmer?" asked Hermione.

Dr. Thorson nodded. "We grew magical herbs that could be sown in the fields, and collected what only grew wild in the Big Woods."

"So did you study magic at Salem?" asked Hermione.

The wizard shook his head. "Salem's a fine school, but it was founded by Hogwarts alumni, and follows the British system," he replied. "I attended a muggle primary school, then learned magic at the Elgurland Academy, where the Norse methods are emphasized."

"How did you end up living in Norway?"

"After the Academy, I traveled back to the Old World for an apprenticeship…earned a Mastery in Magical History. Got a job in 1938 as a Lecturer at the University of Oslo's wizard's campus, and was there when both the muggle and magical Germans invaded in 1940."

Hermione's eyes lit in recognition. "So you were part of the Resistance?"

Thorson nodded. "It was a nasty bit of business back then. The Norseland Ministry was officially neutral during the war, but it looked the other way when Grindelwald's forces collaborated with the Nazis. A few of us at the University decided to level the playing field, and that eventually put me in the right place and time to help the Norwegian Royal Family escape to England."

"So that's when you were made King's Wizard?"

Thorson nodded.

"But you're still teaching at the University?" Hermione asked.

The King's Wizard nodded once more. "It's not as much of a full-time job as your Lord Gryffindor's current duties," he explained. "I'm more or less on call when the need arises."

"Like it did today," Hermione said.

"Indeed," agreed Thorson. He then glanced back down at his watch, finished his coffee, and placed the cup back down onto the table.

"But enough about me…you've got more questions about the Network, right?"

When Hermione nodded, the elderly wizard stood.

"Always easier to show, then to tell," he said. "Come, I'll give you a tour on the way to the jump point."

oo00OO00oo

The first stop on Thorson's station tour was the ticket counter. After learning that Hermione was muggle-born, he felt free to lecture using muggle world metaphors.

"Think of portkeys as airplane flights, and apparition jumps as train trips. Portkeys are much faster, cover far more distance, don't run the risk of splinching, and don't drain the passenger's magical reserves. But they are also much more expensive, and can only take you to designated international arrival points. So it's often the case that an international traveler might combine both methods…use a portkey to get them to the right general area, and then apparate to their specific destination."

"Just like someone wishing to travel from Oslo to England might fly to London, and take a train from there to, say, Brighton?"

"Exactly," Dr. Thorson replied.

"But how does your floo network fit into the mix?"

"To a very limited extent," the wizard replied. "There are local floo networks in the major cities and surrounding areas here in Norseland, but the distances across Scandinavia are far too great to support an integrated floo system."

"So…for a muggle comparison, it's used like a subway?"

Thorson nodded.

"But why would somebody pay to apparate?" Hermione asked.

"You don't pay for the right to use an apparition spell," the wizard noted. "You pay for the magic that puts the target into your head, and reduces the risk of splinching."

When Hermione bit her lip in apparent confusion, the wizard guided her past the ticket counter and into a departure hall. In many ways, it resembled an airport concourse with multiple gates. Every twenty feet on either side of the hall were jump points…scribed circles each with five tall rune stones along the edges. The two stopped to watch one such circle in operation. A half-dozen witches and wizards were waiting in a line as a ticket agent called out, "Final jump call for Gothenberg...all passengers wishing to apparate to Gothenberg must present their tickets at this time."

When nobody stepped forward, the agent pulled out her wand, pointed towards the stones, and muttered an incantation. The spell that was cast moved the position of three of the five stones to different parts of the circle. Once the stones finished moving, a sign against the wall changed from "Gothenberg" to "Soderham".

"Soderham," the agent called out, "Now taking priority passengers to Soderham."

One wizard who had stood apart from the other five approached the agent with ticket in hand. The witch smiled and wished the wizard a good trip as she ripped off half and returned the stub. The wizard then walked into the middle of the circle, and, ten seconds later, disapparated.

"Last call for priority to Soderham?" the agent then stated. When nobody else approached she nodded to the first person in the remaining line and the process was repeated.

"First class passengers on apparition jumps?" Hermione asked.

Dr. Thorson nodded and gestured down the hallway. "As one of the largest stations on the network, Dyrrheim has ten jump platforms. Each can only point towards one destination at a time. Now, as you can imagine, there are lots of destinations within a three-hundred mile radius of Oslo, so there has to be some prioritization." He then led Hermione a little farther down the hall.

"Given traffic volumes, and the fact that circles with fixed stones are easier to create and operate, four of the ten circles are dedicated to single destinations…each north, east, south, or west from here." The King's Wizard then pointing towards different areas of the hall, noting the circles dedicated to travel to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Bergen and Trondheim.

Nodding back towards the first circle, Thorson said, "Now another four of the circles cycle on a schedule of different destinations, almost exactly like different muggle airplanes using the same gate at an airport. But since there's only a fixed window of time scheduled for each target locality, there may be cases where not everyone who wants to travel to a place can do so during the allotted slot."

"So a first-class ticket allows you to jump the queue," Hermione reasoned.

"Exactly," Thorson replied.

"What about the last two circles?" Hermione asked.

"Those are for the least-requested destinations," Thorson replied. "Once you reach the front of the queue, the agent will move the stones to put you exactly where you want to be, give or take ten miles…that line moves a lot slower, for obvious reasons."

"But I still don't understand what the rune stones do," said Hermione.

"Ah, well, let's show you, then," the wizard replied. He then led the young witch up to "Trondheim" circle, which wasn't currently being used. After the flash of an identification badge and a few words, the agent smiled and gestured towards the circle.

"Have you ever visited Trondheim, Ambassador Granger?" Thorson asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"Would you consider a blind apparition there?"

Again Hermione shook her head.

"Well, step inside, relax your mind, and see if that changes."

With a shrug of her shoulders, Hermione stepped within the rune circle, closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind of the hundreds of thoughts that were competing for her attention. After a few moments, she felt a warm, safe presence almost ask for permission to enter her mind. When she mentally nodded her head, imported thoughts immediately began to fill her consciousness.

"This is strange," she said out loud. "I can now clearly picture a different stone circle…I know that it's in a city called Trondheim, and I have all the confidence in the world that I could apparate there right now if I wanted to."

"Wonderful," Dr. Thorson replied. "Now if you'd open your eyes and leave the circle, we've got a different destination to travel to."

oo00OO00oo

As the two made their way to the portkey departure zone, Hermione asked, "I see on the maps that we're within both Norway and Norseland, and that the latter includes most of Scandinavia."

The King's Wizard nodded. "Most magical governments gave up trying to mirror their muggle counterparts centuries ago…the boundaries of Norseland were established more than a thousand years ago, and haven't changed even as the number of muggle countries and their borders have changed within that same area."

Hermione nodded. "Ah, so it's like the British Ministry of Magic…it rules over magical Ireland even though the muggle Republic of Ireland has gained independence?"

"That's right," Thorson agreed.

"So are you the King's Wizard in Sweden, or Denmark as well?"

The King's Wizard shook his head. "Each of the muggle monarch has its own liaison with the Norseland Ministry."

"So the Swedish king has his own wizard?"

Thorson nodded. "Witch, actually. Same with the Danish Queen and her witch. The Finns gave up on their monarchy a century ago, so they're on their own."

Hermione snorted. "So how many Royal Witches and Wizards are there in the world?"

"Twenty-one, if you add Sultans and Emirs to the list," Thorson replied.

"Wow," Hermione said. "And here we thought Harry was balancing in this unique position between muggle and magical worlds."

"Not at all, Ambassador," the King's Wizard said with a smile. "We actually all get together a few times each year to compare notes. Next meeting is in Swaziland this November…Sir Harry should be expecting an invite."

As the two approached a short queue to gain entry to the portkey departure area, they switched over to a less sensitive conversation topic.

"Could you talk more about North America and Elgurland?" Hermione asked. "Was it a Viking colony, and how does it fit in with the United States, or the Confederation?"

The King's Wizard smiled. "Elgurland'…elgur is 'moose' in Old Norse by the way…was originally just a Norsca Network station on the northern shore of Lake Superior…near the present-day muggle city of Duluth. When it was built in AD667 it was the end of the line…ambient magic levels on the prairies of Iowa, or Illinois, or the Dakotas were far too low to power stones carved with the rune sets that were available at the time."

"So it was a frontier outpost that developed into something more?"

The professor nodded. "It was originally meant to be only a trading post…a place where wizards within the Native communities could interact with and barter with their European counterparts. But when the Scandinavian muggles and Christianity began making life difficult for the homeland's wizarding populations, many decided to immigrate to North America, and made the area around Elgurland Station their home."

"So it became a Norse colony, then?"

The professor shook his head. "The witches and wizards that came from Europe to North America did so as immigrants, rather than conquerors. Colonialism never happened on a major scale within the wizarding world."

"Why was that?" asked Hermione.

"Well, I'd like to say that it was because the wizarding world is more egalitarian and tolerant of other peoples and cultures, but I can't," the wizard admitted.

"No, you certainly couldn't," Hermione murmured to herself.

"The real reason had more to do with the timing of first contact," continued the King's Wizard. "When the muggle European powers colonized the rest of the world, there was a huge disparity in technology between themselves and the native peoples they subjugated…guns and metal plate armor against spears and bows and arrows. But in 634, when the first Norse arrived in North America, the witches and wizards that they encountered were roughly equivalent in power."

"The Natives had wands too?"

"No, they didn't…but neither did Norse witches and wizards until the Ninth Century," replied the Professor. "It took a few bloody encounters, but after neither side was able to dominate the other the first immigrants joined the Confederation of Native wizard communities, rather than try to defeat it."

"It wasn't just Scandinavian witches and wizards that moved, though, was it?"

"Indeed not," replied the Professor. "The Norsca Line was used to relocate entire wizarding communities from across Northern Europe. For example, many Druidic Old Believers settled in what is now muggle New England, French wizarding communities formed along the St. Lawrence River, while witches and wizards from the Germanic tribes struck out west from Elgurland and formed their own communities in the Rocky Mountains."

"So this Confederation is the wizard equivalent of the United States?" asked Hermione.

"In style, it is similar, but in terms of territory it is much larger…it also is much more of a collective, with devolved powers residing within Elgurland and the other provinces."

Hermione nodded, then started to focus more on the purpose of her trip as they entered the restricted area marked "Portkey Departure and Arrival Zone." This smaller concourse consisted of a half-dozen departure platforms on one side, and a series of duty-free magical shops on the other.

"Dyrrheim is one of four designated international portkey access points within Norseland," Dr. Thorson explained. "Trying to use an international portkey outside of one of these areas would trigger an alarm within our Ministry and earn you a hefty fine, or maybe even jail time."

Hermione nodded. "You said that we needed to take two portkeys to reach Japan…I assume that the midpoint is another station like this one?"

The King's Wizard nodded. "Ice Station Alaska," he stated, as he pointed to the spot on a nearby wall map. "We'll have to layover there for an hour or so, in order to avoid portkey lag…not that a layover is a bad thing when the salmon are running."

"Salmon?"

The King's Wizard smiled. "It's always good to bring gifts when you visit someone in Japan."

Thinking the idea strange, Hermione asked, "Wouldn't flowers, or a bottle of wine be more appropriate gifts than raw fish?"

The elderly wizard squinted a bit at Hermione, and then shook his head as he removed a piece of rope from his pocket.

"Think sushi."

oo00OO00oo

2130 GMT (9:30pm local time)
Plasnewydd Square, Cardiff, Wales

The Queen's Wizard knocked on the back door of an unmarked lorry, and once the door was opened for him stepped up and inside the container.

This vehicle was far more high-tech then the one used by the Team A lead in Liverpool. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim red running lights that cast a eerie glow over the banks of electronic surveillance equipment. Meanwhile, he had to listen to a talking head within one of monitors scold him for his tardiness.

"My apologies, Mr. Home Secretary," said Harry, as he sat down in front of a camera and a full bank of monitors filled with the faces of COBRA team members down in London. "The Team B lead here in Cardiff took just a little longer than I expected to debrief me."

"Find anything surprising, Agent Potter?" asked the MI-5 Director.

Harry shook his head. "Just that the table manners of some of my former classmates have only gotten worse now that they're Death Eaters."

"No higher level targets of interest at either location, then?"

"No sir," Harry replied.

"But you are certain that they are all terrorists?"

Harry took a deep breath, held it for a second, then exhaled as he nodded.

"Yes sir. Confirmed the tattoos with my omnioculars."

"Right, then," said the Defense Minister, as he joined in the teleconference conversation. "Major Potter, you and all of your magical "advisors" are to return to base immediately."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Sir?"

"Fall back, Major," the Defense Minister said. "You've read in the two SAS teams on what they'll face, done the final reconnaissance for them, and now its their turn."

"You don't want my witches and wizards and me to swoop in at the same time?"

"That's the last thing we want," said the Home Secretary. "None of our magicals are to be anywhere near those two safe-houses when the attacks commence."

"But I don't understand," Harry lamented.

"Yours is not to reason why, Major," the Defense Minister said sharply. "You have your orders."

Harry stared at the bank of monitors for a few seconds, with an intensity that caused the hairs to stand on end on the neck of the surveillance technician that was sitting next to him. The flickering electronic images on the displays indicated that the communication equipment was bathed in just as much magical tension as it rolled off of Harry in waves.

Channeling the most stereotypically exuberant attitude that Harry ever witnessed within the British military, he fired off a crisp salute and yelled out, "Sir, Yes Sir!"

"Calm down, Harry," the Prime Minister said. "This isn't an ideal solution, but it's the best we've got right now. We need to move on these houses before we risk their involvement in another attack, particularly with the Garden Party tomorrow afternoon. And with our relationship with the Ministry of Magic tenuous at best, and with Ambassador Granger on her way to meet with this Supreme Mugwump, we want to make sure that there isn't even the appearance of impropriety in how Her Majesty's Government relies upon magical assistance from you and your people….And that being said, it really would be ideal if you were to be seen in a public place over the next few hours…even a magical public place, if possible."

"Plausible deniability, sir?"

"Exactly, Lord Gryffindor," the Prime Minister replied. "Let's have you keep your nose clean, especially when it doesn't directly involve the Queen's safety."

"Yes, sir…anything else sir?"

The Prime Minister shook his head.

"Just let us know when you've cleared out your troops," the Defense Minister said.

Harry scowled, then gave another sarcastically rousing "Sir, Yes Sir!"

oo00OO00oo

2200 GMT (1:00pm local time)
Ice Station Alaska, Nome

The international portkey deposited Hermione and her Norwegian escort within an area similar to (but smaller than) the portkey concourse in Oslo. The two stepped off of one of the arrival pads and walked up to an immigration control checkpoint, set up underneath a sign that said, "Welcome to the North American Confederation of Magical States."

"So, here's Alaska," Thorson said flippantly, as the joined the end of a short queue. "It's GMT -9 here, so it's still this afternoon."

"And the next jump will take us into tomorrow morning," added Hermione.

"Exactly," the professor replied. He then added, "Now if all we were going to do is wait to use that second portkey, we wouldn't have to clear customs."

"But we're not, because we're going to go fishing?"

The professor nodded. "Won't take more than the hour's time, and there still twice that to kill before the Japanese Ministry of Magic opens for business…unless you'd rather just sit and wait it out."

Hermione thought for a few moments. "No, let's go…it'd be hard for me to claim I visited Alaska if all I did was sit inside this terminal."

"That's the spirit," Thorson replied.

Once more, all it took was the wave of two muggle diplomatic passports to get past immigration. As they entered a brightly-lit room with a high domed ceiling, Hermione asked, "This is still a wizard-run facility, right?"

When her escort nodded, she followed up with, "So why aren't they bothered by muggle passports, much less diplomatic passports?"

Thorson somewhat cryptically replied, "As you gain more international experience, Ambassador Granger, you'll discover many countries and regions whose magical and muggle governments aren't as separate as yours."

The King's Wizard appeared well acquainted with the facility as he led his young charge to a magical shopping mall within the terminal. At the far end of this area was a small shop whose sign read, "Ellsworth's Adventures - Guided Tours for the Discerning Wizard Since 1423." The ringing bell attached to the doorway announced their presence to a wizened old man, who looked up and said, "Ah, Ole, what an unexpected pleasure… good to see you again."

"You too, Alex," the King's Wizard replied. "How's business been?"

"Excellent, excellent…just sent a dozen Aussies on a Yeti expedition this morning, and I've got six different ice dragon reserve visits scheduled over the next month. But I bet you're not looking for that sort of thing are you, Ole? And who his your lovely companion? And does your wife Lena know about her?"

The King's Wizard laughed as Hermione's eyes narrowed. "My name is Hermione Granger, Mr…Ellsworth, I presume."

"Yes you may presume, my dear," the outfitter said with a large smile.

"We're just traveling on business, Alex," Dr. Thorson said. "Ambassador Granger has an appointment with the Supreme Mugwump in a few hours, so I thought I'd let you give her a chance to catch some omiyagi."

"Supreme Mugwump, you say?" asked the old man. "Well, them Japanese are crazy about their fish, that's true enough. Pity you weren't here a month ago, the Copper River run was the best in fifty years."

"Yes, Alex, I know, I was here, remember?"

"What?" asked the old man. "Oh, so you were, my mind these days….how much time do you have, you say?"

"Only an hour, sir," Hermione insisted.

"Ah, well then, that rules out the halibut and king crab trips…not that it's any fun to travel with those buggers in your bag"

"I was thinking King salmon, down on Cook Inlet," Thorson suggested.

The wizard nodded. "Just had a client catch an eighty-pounder down there, if it's size you're looking for…but they aren't the quickest fish to find…come on into the back room and we'll take a look."

Hermione and Thorson followed the wizard's instructions, and walked into what appeared to be a dimly-lit office. The outfitter grabbed a clear crystal bowl and placed it on his desk surface. After an Aguamenti spell filled the bowl with water, he reached into a pocket and withdrew a large silver fishhook that dangled from the end of a thin silver chain. The wizard looped one end of the chain over his wand tip, then lowered the fishhook into the bowl of water.

As the outfitter stared into the water and entered into a trance, the King's Wizard whispered to Hermione that the wizard was using a method of divination known as scrying to determine where the fish were biting.

A few moments later, the outfitter broke the trance, turned towards the other two, and announced, "There's going to be a tidal blast of sockeye on the Lower Kenai ten minutes from now."

The King's Wizard's eyes went wide with excitement. "What are we waiting for, then?"

Hermione looked at the two wizards, then down to her robes, and asked, "How about a change in clothing?"

oo00OO00oo

With the charter fee negotiated and Hermione's robes now tucked inside chest waders, the outfitter closed up his shop and held out a fishing rod that had been charmed as a two-way portkey. It deposited the three onto the grassy banks of a large, shallow river, about four hundred miles south of the portkey station. While Thorson's eyes were immediately drawn to the water, Hermione's took in the breathtaking beauty of the rugged Alaskan coastline. There was a cool wind in the air that made her glad for the jumper she was wearing, but the sun was shining and American bald eagles were coasting on thermals overhead.

The two wizards allowed Hermione the time to take in the scenery as they walked fifty yards down the shoreline in opposite directions in order to cast muggle-repelling charms. The tranquility was broken by the chirp of her satellite phone. She activated it and asked, "Hello?"

"Hey, Hermione, this is Wally," said the voice on the other line.

"Anything wrong? How's Harry?"

"Nothing's wrong and he's fine," the MI-5 ¾ agent replied. "I was just calling to find out why your GPS tracking receiver says you're currently sixty miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska."

"Because that's where I am, Wally," Hermione replied glibly.

"Care to share?"

"Have an hour to kill in between long-distance portkeys," Hermione explained. "And apparently, my escort is an avid fisherman."

Wally laughed on the other end of the line.

"Have you ever fished before, Dame Hermione?"

"No," she replied. "I've read about it in books, of course, but…"

"Well, that's more than enough reason to have chose me as your guide," the outfitter said loudly, as he returned to Hermione's location. As she ended the call and pocketed her phone, he reached into a bottomless bag and pulled a number of different rods and reels. After choosing one for the King's Wizard, the outfitter selected a slightly smaller rod for Hermione.

"Got a few minutes to practice casting," he said, as he showed the young witch the proper way to cast out hook and line. It was slow going, and Hermione had yet to get her hook wet on her own when the divined run of large red sockeye salmon began charging upstream.

Hermione was almost too mesmerized to fish, as the surge of fish darted up along the banks in response to their relentless drive to spawn. Her travel companion didn't have this problem, though…with a whoop and holler he cast out his line, and within a minute landed his first fish.

Their guide had been working on detangling Hermione's line when the King Wizard's catch was landed, but she encouraged him to help Thorson. The outfitter happily abandoned Hermione in favor of the sockeye salmon, taking it off the hook and carrying it be the gills as he walked back to a staging area away from the river bank.

After successfully landing his third fish in ten minutes, the King's Wizard turned towards Hermione, noted her struggles, and shouted, "Think of the rod as your wand, and cast a flame whip spell."

Hermione looked at the wizard, then down at the bird's nest of fishing line that had clogged her reel, and cursed.

"Think I'm going to think of my wand as a wand," she decided, as she threw the fishing rod down onto the ground in frustration. Looking down into the water, she pointed her wand towards the largest flash of red she could find and shouted "Accio Sockeye!"

A look of satisfaction came upon her face as a fifteen-pound hooked-jaw fish flew up out of the water and dropped down onto the shore by her feet.

"That's not very sporting," said the King's Wizard with a disappointed tone of voice.

"But it is much more efficient," Hermione countered. As the fish that she had "caught" flopped around she asked, "Now what?"

"Levitate it back towards Alex, and he'll take care of it from there," the elderly wizard said with a sigh.

Hermione followed these directions and brought the fish back to where Alex had conjured two waterproof rectangular boxes.

"Oh, that's a nice one, miss," the wizard said. "Let's get him comfortable."

She watched as the outfitter grabbed the floating fish, cancelled the levitation charm, and dropped it gently into one of the boxes. He then cast a spell Hermione had never seen before…some conjuration that produced s a globe of water around the salmon's head and gills.

"It's a bubblehead charm, only reversed," the old man explained. "Gives the fish an hour's worth of water."

"Ingenious," said Hermione. "But why are you casting it?"

"The key to great sushi is fresh fish," the King's Wizard declared, as he walked back from the bank with both his rod and Hermione's. "Can't get any fresher if it's still flopping about when the knives come out."

Hermione watched as the guide packed up the gear and covered the boxed fish with fresh seaweed.

"An awful lot of work just to give somebody a present."

The King's Wizard looked around at the scenery, took in a deep breath of fresh air and said, "Hard for me to think of this as work."

As Hermione watched the bald eagle swoop down and grab a fish out of the water with its talons, she was forced to agree.

Thrity minutes later, Hermione was back at the transit station with a long fidgety box under her arm (she had been warned that there was flavor loss if the fish was magically stunned). The outfitter was keeping one of the other three fish for Thorson until they could be picked up on the return trip to Norway. The other two were presently boxed under his own arm, just in case (he had told Hermione that based on his experiences visiting Japan that it was best to bring two more gifts than you expected to give).

On the way back to the portkey departure area, Hermione spied a small market with a sign in its window announcing the availability of live fish.

"Don't tell me that I could have just bought one of these over at the shop," she said.

The King's Wizard looked over at the storefront window and smiled.

"Okay, I won't tell you."

Hermione pouted. "I thought that you were supposed to be helping me in my mission?"

"But I am," Thorson replied. "How much more appreciative will the receiver of the gift be when he learns that you caught the gift yourself?"

The fish under Hermione's arm swatted its tail hard against the side of the box, causing her to almost lose her balance.

"For your sake," she warned, "it better be a lot."

oo00OO00oo

2330 GMT (11:30pm. local time)
Thistle and Toad Pub, Gilmerton Close, Edinburgh

The Queen's Wizard had followed orders and pulled his troops out of the areas where the two Death Eater safe houses were located, and taken the extra step of ordering them to make sure they had ironclad alibis for the evening. Not wishing to leave apparition traces near the safe-houses, the Art Clubers badge-jumped to Holyrood using Wally as an anchor point, then apparated from there. The others flew back to Edinburgh aboard separate RAF transport helicopters.

It had only been a short walk from the helicopter landing pad next to the Palace down to the pub that served as the gateway to Edinburgh's small magical quarter. Katie, Alicia, and Lee used the floo to meet Fred and George at the Leaky Cauldron for a very late dinner, leaving Harry and his Gryffindor dorm mates behind to sample the Thistle and Toad's pub grub and butterbeer.

They had only been there a little while when Ron tried to get his mate's attention.

"Harry?"

"Erm….what?"

"He asked if you wanted to call it a night," said Seamus, who was sitting at the table along with Neville and Dean.

"No," replied Harry. "Wally was going to call with the all-clear, but hasn't yet."

"Oh," said Ron. "So…fancy a game of exploding snap?"

Harry gave Ron an incredulous look. "With all of the things that are….don't you think we're a little to old for that game?"

Ron looked over towards the other three Gryffindors; in unison they all turned towards Harry and replied, "No."

"Okay, then," said the Queen's Wizard, deciding that there was nothing better to do. "First charred face buys the next round."

Ron smiled as he pulled a deck of cards out from a pocket. Between his mate's worries over his globe-trotting girlfriend, and the fears over the purely muggle military operation against the safe-houses, there was little doubt who would be distracted enough to be buying.

oo00OO00oo

2345 GMT (8:45am. local time)
Kyoto Station, Kyoto, Japan

The King's Wizard, Hermione, and their three fish arrived at the international portkey station in Kyoto at precisely the agreed-upon time.

The first thing Hermione saw once her eyes adjusted were two men standing in front of her. One was a short and bald (shorter than even she was), wearing a tall black brimless hat and dressed in a formal male kimono that didn't look all that different from wizarding robes. The other man was slightly taller, much skinnier, and dressed in a western-style day suit (complete with tails). Both bowed low towards Hermione and her escort as they stepped off of the platform. She followed her escort's lead and returned the bow.

The King's Wizard said something to the men in Japanese and gestured towards Hermione. The two men bowed once more, which Hermione parroted. The gesturing and bowing were then repeated as the shorter man said something to the King's Wizard in Japanese. Finally, after a very frustrating few seconds, this shorter man switched to English and said, "His Majesty the Emperor welcomes Ambassador Granger to Japan, and offers his apologies that he could not be here this morning to greet you personally. I am what you would call the Emperor's Wizard, Matsuhisa Yukihiro."

Hermione bowed (didn't know if was needed, but figured it was better to bow too low and too often, rather than not). She then responded with a greeting that had been suggested by the Foreign Secretary earlier that day.

"I am Her Majesty's Government's Envoy to the Wizarding World, Hermione Granger. I wish to apologize for imposing on you and His Majesty the Emperor with this visit, and to express our gratitude that His Majesty the Emperor has offered aid in the United Kingdom's time of need."

The bald man nodded slightly, then frowned when his companion whispered something in Japanese.

"This is Mr. Erizawa," Emperor's Wizard said with a rough wave of his hand. "He is my muggle minder, tasked with ensuring that I embarrass neither His Majesty the Emperor, the Imperial Household, or myself when I make my forays into the muggle world."

The thin muggle grimaced slightly, but quickly returned his face to a neutral position and said in heavily accented English, "Welcome to Japan, Ambassador Granger. The Imperial Household will do its best to ensure that the goals of your visit to our country are smoothly met without incident."

"So are you going to follow her into the muggle loo to make sure she flushes, like you do me?" the Emperor's Wizard asked gruffly (in Japanese).

Thorson snorted as the question caused the muggle man's face to turn beet red.

The two Japaenese engaged in a terse exchange of words, while Thorson turned towards Hermione and whispered, "Matsuhisa-sensei loves yanking the chain of this minder almost as much as he loves sushi…if you don't mind, I suggest you give the minder your fish to give to the Emperor, then use one of mine for the Supreme Mugwump."

Hermione nodded, happy at the thought of getting the squirming box out from under her arm. The man accepted the gift with a bow of respect

"Only about forty minutes left on that fish-bowl charm," Thorson noted to the Emperor's Wizard. When the wizard raised an eyebrow, the King's Wizard smiled. "Sockeye salmon, and yes, one of these are for you, sensei."

"Sugoi!" the wizard exclaimed with delight. "Then let us meet presently with the Supreme Mugwump, so that this wonderful present might soon meet with my knife."

The Japanese wizard and muggle led Hermione and Thorson through the transit station, which from an architectural standpoint looked rather modern and muggle. When Hermione asked about this, the Emperor's Wizard explained that they were presently underneath Kyoto's JR train station, and that the magical transportation hub had been moved there so as to facilitate transfers between muggle and magical modes of travel.

The small group once again breezed through customs, with the diplomatic passports and Erizawa's comments drawing deep bows from checkpoint officials who were dressed more like samurai than security agents.

Two young women were waiting for the party just beyond the barrier. Each was dressed in a high-waisted ankle-length red split skirt worn over a white kimono with long, wide sleeves. Each also had a large flat box in their hands, which they offered to Hermione and Thorson with deferential bows.

The Imperial Household Agency's muggle stepped up to explain.

"Ambassador Granger, as we will be traveling in and out of muggle areas of the city, we are happy to offer you attire that will be less…. conspicuous."

Hermione looked inside her box and found an outfit somewhat similar to what both of the young women were wearing. With a nod in understanding, she said, "If it's my robes that stick out, I can just switch back to my muggle business suit."

The muggle bowed and replied, "We are pleased to offer the Ambassador the attire that is traditionally worn by those that the gods have blessed with magic."

Hermione thought for a moment, then drew her wand. "Thank you, but it would be a lot quicker and easier for me to transfigure my robes into something similar."

The muggle minder winced slightly. "The young women would be pleased to help you quickly and easily change, Ambassador."

Hermione frowned, then turned to the Norwegian King's Wizard, who was watching the exchange with a bemused expression on his face.

"You will find, Ambassador Granger, that there is a certain flow to doing things within this country. In most cases, it is easier to go with the flow than to swim against it."

The confirmatory nod and chuckle from the Emperor's Wizard convinced Hermione of the correct path through this minor impasse. She nodded with a small bit of resignation, and allowed herself to be led into a private changing room by the two young women.

The fact that Hermione's two young assistants didn't speak of word of English didn't keep them from engaging in a running commentary as they helped her out of her Clan Potter robe and the muggle clothing that she wore underneath. The Japanese women actually tittered when Hermione's crimson thong was revealed underneath her skirt; she needed to use some rather forthright hand gestures to indicate that she wasn't about to take it off so that they could get a closer look.

Once down to her bra and knickers, Hermione's new outfit was built up piece by piece. At first she thought that she'd look identical to her attendants. But after donning white tabi socks, a white kimono, and the high-waisted pleated red split skirt (that could almost be thought of as wide-legged trousers), the attendants wrapped a white wide belt around her waist, and pulled a white wide-sleeved jacket out of the box.

One of the two women said something to the other about this jacket, and pointed towards the Clan Potter crest on the robe that now lay folded on a chair. The second woman nodded, took the jacket and robe, and excused herself with a deep bow. When she returned two minutes later, the jacket that she presented to Hermione now had the Clan Potter crest woven into the silk fabric in five different places…on the back in between the shoulders, and on the front and back of each sleeve.

"It's beautiful," Hermione said in admiration, as she slipped her arms into each jacket sleeve. She was, however, decidedly less enthusiastic about the final piece of her new outfit.

"Absolutely not," she declared, when she was offered a gold headband that held a bouquet of long-stemmed flowers against the front.

The women frowned, said something to each other, then offered the headpiece a second time. When Hermione shook her head and folded her arms in front of her, one of the women left the room in order to fetch the Emperor's Wizard. The short bald man entered the private changing room and smiled.

"You are a vision of beauty, Ambassador Granger."

"There's no way I'm wearing that bouquet of flowers on my head," Hermione stated.

The Emperor's Wizard snorted.

"Am I to understand that all Japanese witches walk around wearing flowers on their forehead?"

"Only when they allow my minder to dress them," the wizard said with a laugh. "It is what you call in English a prank."

"Thank Merlin," Hermione exclaimed.

The wizard exchanged some words with the two women (although much of what the wizard appeared to be saying in Japanese sounded to her more like grunts and groans). After reaching some sort of decision, the Emperor's Wizard asked, "Would it be acceptable, Ambassador Granger, for your hair to be worn braided down the back, and tied with a white sash?"

Hermione looked at the wizard and arched an eyebrow. "Do you happen to know a spell that would straighten my hair?"

The wizard chuckled. "Japanese women do not usually have that type of problem, but I will ask the miko." He then translated Hermione's question into Japanese, causing the two young women to look at Hermione and shake their heads. Their comments caused the wizard to laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked.

The Emperor's Wizard replied, "It is their opinion that the devils that possess your curls are too strong for their magic, and asked if I would aid them with an exorcism."

Hermione looked at the wizard with disbelief, then allowed her own chuckles to escape past her lips.

"Well," she replied, "if this exorcism works any better and faster than Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, then be my guest."

oo00OO00oo

Hermione hobbled out of the dressing room atop a pair of very uncomfortable wooden sandals. She found the wizard from Lake Wobegon dressed as a male Shinto priest, with a dark green jacket over his white kimono, and a eight-inch tall brimless black hat capping his six-foot two inch tall frame.

"Think you'll be ducking much?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"No more than usual when I visit here," the King's Wizard replied. "I must agree with my colleague, Ambassador…the kimono only enhances your natural beauty."

"Thank you, Thorson-sensei," Hermione replied. "I rather like the outfit, although these wooden sandals are…now, what would the diplomatic term be?"

"A pain in the arse?" asked the Emperor's Wizard.

"Thank you, Matsuhisa-sensei," said Hermione. "I couldn't agree more."

A red-faced protocol officer led the small group to a bank of lifts. When one of these lifts opened its doors, another young girl dressed in white kimono and red skirt emerged. She gestured towards the lift interior with white-gloved hands, and bowed politely.

Once they stepped inside, the muggle minder withdrew a white silk scarf from his coat pocket and used it to cover his eyes.

"He can't deal with actually experiencing magic," Matsuhisa explained with a smile.

When the young girl touched part of the lift compartment's wall with a very short wand the doors closed and the lift slowly began to rise. After a short trip that Hermione guessed traversed only a few stories, the doors opened to reveal a solid wall.

"Chotto matte kudasai," the girl said in a lilting voice.

"It's an illusion," Thorson explained to Hermione. "Just need to wait for the all-clear before we can leave."

When a three-note chime sounded, the girl bowed and gestured towards the wall. The Emperor's Wizard winked at Thorson and Hermione before gruffly pushing the blindfolded muggle through the faux wall. They then followed the muggle's path, exiting into an empty hallway. Once the muggle minder removed his blindfold he took on an air of authority and barked out a order to the Emperor's Wizard.

"Let me guess," Hermione whispered to Norwegian wizard. "We're now in muggle territory, so he gets to take charge."

Thorson smiled and nodded in reply as they were led into a very busy corridor of a very busy train station. As they walked, Hermione remembered her promise to phone home and pulled out the satellite phone from a pocket sewn into the lining of her kimono jacket. After waiting only a few rings, the Prime Minister picked up on the other side.

"Hello, Prime Minister, this is Hermione…I'm sorry for calling so late at night."

"That's quite alright, Ambassador…I did ask you to call once you arrived in Kyoto…you are in Japan, then?"

"Yes, sir," she said. "We're in transit to the meeting place."

"Good, good…so who are you with right now?"

"Erm…the Norwegian King's Wizard, the Japanese Emperor's Wizard, and someone else from the Imperial Household."

"Excellent," the Prime Minister replied. "And you'll be in their company for the next thirty minutes, at least?"

"I believe so, Prime Minister," said Hermione. "Is there a reason why that's important?"

"Yes, actually, there is," the Prime Minister replied. "We'll talk later about it."

"Erm…okay," said Hermione. "Anything else, sir?"

"No, no…I should let you go, Ambassador. Stay safe over there."

"Yes, sir, I will…good night, sir."

"Good night, Ambassador Granger."

When she heard the click on the other end, Hermione ended the call from her side and pocketed the sat phone. The call had left her a bit frustrated…it was clear that the Prime Minister was keeping something from her, but she couldn't think what that might be.

It wasn't until later that Hermione learned that two SAS counter-terrorism teams had been waiting on her call, as the Prime Minister had refused to authorize the assaults against the Death Eater until he was certain that his Special Ambassador had an iron-clad alibi, half-way around the world.

oo00OO00oo

A uniformed driver was waiting for Hermione and her three escorts next to a black luxury sedan. He bowed, then gathered the three boxed fish and deposited them in the boot. Meanwhile, the muggle minder got into the front passenger seat, and the other three slipped into the back. The Emperor's Wizard leaned forward to give instructions to the driver, then sat back and engaged the glass divider between front and back. Once the barrier was in place he sat back and smiled.

"Ah, finally I can relax a little," he said. He then turned to Hermione and asked, "Is this your first visit to Japan, Ambassador?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione replied.

"Then you must promise to return when there is better weather," the wizard replied, as the driver pulled the car out from under a protective canopy and into a misty gray morning. "Monsoon season will be with us for at least another week."

"Did I hear you say that we were heading to Kami-Gamo Jinja rather than the Ministry?" asked Thorson.

The Japanese wizard nodded. "The kappas have been acting up again at Tadasu no Mori," he explained. "They're giving the muggle golfers more of a water hazard that they've wished for…and since the Supreme Mugwump is still the High Priest at that shrine, he's handling the situation himself."

Thorson nodded as the car splashed through puddles on its way north from the station. "Hard to believe that golfers would be out in this weather."

The Emperor's Wizard laughed. "Thorson-san, how many times have you visited Japan…and still you know nothing of our culture?"

The Norwegian King's Wizard caught Hermione fidgeting in his peripheral vision. "Matsuhisa-sensei, Ambassador Granger wishes to display both her keen mind and the ill-effects of an appallingly myopic curriculum at Hogwarts. Would you be willing to answer a few questions for her?"

"Of course, Thorson-san," the wizard said. He caught Hermione's attention, and then asked, "How might I help, Ambassador?"

The frown on Hermione's face that had been generated by her escort's low opinion of Hogwarts was overcome by curiosity.

"My apologizes, sir, but it does seem that this trip has revealed my ignorance of the wizarding world beyond Europe."

"It is the fault of the sensei, and not the student," the Japanese wizard replied. "What has piqued your interest?"

"Well, the idea of kappas attacking muggle golfers, for sure, but a more basic question involves the relationship between magic and religion in your country...is the Supreme Mugwump really a high priest?"

The Emperor's Wizard nodded. "He is indeed, Ambassador, as am I. Nearly every Japanese witch and wizard is involved in some way with Shintoism."

"But…isn't Shinto also a religion within the muggle world?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that a problem in terms of protecting secrets?"

The Japanese wizard smiled, shook his head, and once more dove into the brief lesson that was always necessary when a Western wizard first visited Japan.

"The magic native to Japan is very different than what is taught in your schools. Shinto magic is closer in style to what your Druids practiced, before the Roman wand wavers imposed their type of magic across Europe and Northern Africa."

The wizard paused for Hermione to process that statement, then moved on. "Shinto magic is used by the Japanese mage…or miko if they are female…to maintain the harmony of nature. It is power given by the kami…you call them spirits…to restore imbalances."

"So what type of imbalances are you asked to fix?" Hermione asked.

"Mainly those between the muggle and magical worlds," the wizard replied. "For example, the kami recognize the right of even non-magical people to live and thrive…but it is hard for the people of Japan to coexist with our magical beasts…there is so little flat, arable land. So the kami allow balance…we use magic to strengthen buildings against earthquakes, and magic to boost rice harvests, but only in areas outside of where the tengu and other magical beasts run free."

"Don't forget about keeping the devils in bounds as well," Thorson replied with a smile. "Remember that one time you and I chased that oni up and down that mountain side?"

"Yes, Thorson-san, they were good times," the wizard replied warmly.

Hermione then asked, "So you don't live separated from the muggle world, then?"

"Yes and no," the wizard replied. "We do live amongst the muggles, but are schooled separately within the shrines. The Shinto mage has a public face that muggles see when they visit the shrines, but also the private face that we use for magically restoring the balances."

"Sort of being a secret agent," said Thorson with a smile. "Not that you'd know anything about that, right Ambassador?"

"Erm, right," said Hermione. "So do the muggles know that some or most of the Shinto priests and priestesses are really witches and wizards?"

"There are many who have faith in the powers of Shinto priests and priestesses," the wizard replied. "But faith isn't the same as certain knowledge, and there are many more whose faith extends only far enough to justify the purchase of good-luck charms and protective talismans at our shrines."

Hermione nodded. "So I'm interested in this golf course, and the kappas…."

The Emperor's Wizard smiled. "Kamigamo Jinja and Shimogamo Jinja are shrines built on the edge of a magical forest known as Tadasu no Mori, which is home to many magical beasts. The shrines are staffed by Shinto mages and mika charged with keeping a harmonious boundary between the two worlds. Many years ago, when the game of golf became popular, the muggles asked if a golf course could be constructed on the edge of the forest. They asked the High Priests, because it was the shrine that owned the forest lands. After much consultation with the kami, this golf course was allowed to be built…although it forced us to relocate some of the magical creatures that called the area home, it provides enough income for the Shrines to support more than two hundred mages and mikos. And if the mages and mikos don't need to use magic to put a roof over their heads or food on the table, there is more time and opportunity for them to maintain the balance elsewhere."

Hermione nodded. "So I gather that the kappas weren't necessarily in agreement with this arrangement?"

The Japanese wizard nodded. "That is a worthy understatement, Ambassador."

oo00OO00oo

Wednesday, July 11, 0030 GMT (12:30am. local time)
Thistle and Toad Pub, Gilmerton Close, Edinburgh

The vibration of the Art Club badge caught Harry by surprise, even though he was hoping or expecting calls from at least two different people. He begged off the current hand of cards, getting by the protests with the promise that he would yet again buy the next round, and stepped out into the night.

Although he probably shouldn't have done it for security reasons, he eyes immediately shifted to a window across the street where he knew MI-5 ¾ had established a surveillance station. Checking up and down the street, he found a quiet corner and pulled out his mobile.

"Wally?"

"Hey, Harry, I just tried to call you on your badge."

"I know…I'm out where it's less conspicuous to use my mobile…what's going on?"

"Just wanted to let you know that it's over at Cardiff and Leeds."

"Over? As in 'they've gone in and gotten back out' over?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…so have you been authorized to tell me what the hell happened and why I couldn't be trusted to be there?"

"Harry…calm down," Wally pleaded. "You still at the pub?"

"What was the body count, Wally?" Harry asked pointedly.

"Four dead DE's, eight gone missing…all safe and accounted for on our side."

"Bollocks!" Harry swore. "I told them that the Death Eaters would apparate out if given a half-second's chance."

"And they believed you, Harry…turns out that the gas they pumped into the houses didn't knock them out like it should have."

Harry shook his head. "Wouldn't be surprised if witches or wizards weren't affected...we're immune to most muggle diseases...so I imagine the houses are crawling with Ministry types by now?"

'Not that I've heard," Wally replied. "They pulled out the bodies and sanitized the sites as quick as they could, but so far, no Aurors or other magicals have come snooping."

"So all that concern about keeping me and the others from going in with the SAS…didn't matter if alibis were the reason, huh?"

"As far as we know now, no."

"But if there was some other reason, like the government not trusting who's side we would be on, or not wanting us to see how the boys in black go about their business…"

"Harry, I think you're overreacting," Wally replied. "Those "boys" as you call them aren't used to going in with anyone they haven't trained with…Say, I've sent a car along…why don't you pay your tab and head back here to wait for Hermione?"

The Queen's Wizard's eyes narrowed as he spied the black sedan parked with its engine running a few yards down the street.

Thinking that he'd been ordered about and led around by the hand far too much for his liking that evening, he informed Wally that he'd just as soon walk back to the Palace alone.

oo00OO00oo

0100 GMT (10:00am local time)
Kamigamo Jinja, Kyoto, Japan

When the car carrying Hermione and her escorts arrived at the main gate of the shrine complex, the driver was redirected to a location further down the road. The Emperor's Wizard rolled down the divider, and asked something in Japanese. He then leaned back onto the seat and announced, "The Supreme Mugwump is still on the golf course."

After a short drive, the sedan pulled up to the fanciest looking club house that Hermione had ever seen. The driver grabbed three umbrellas, and opened one for each of the rear seat passengers as they climbed out of the car. Hermione struggled to keep up on her platform sandals as the Emperor's Wizard led them to the golf course's first tee, where nearly sixty golfers were standing underneath large bright umbrellas, waiting for the chance to tee off. The Japanese wizard once again asked for directions from a groundskeeper, then returned to the group.

"The Supreme Mugwump is out on the fourth hole, and the course is closed until he gives the all-clear," he stated. "I said that we have come to help. Follow me."

Hermione looked at a wooden sign next to the tee box that showed the course layout. "Oh, no," she said quietly. "No way I'm going to walk that far in these sandals." She then turned to the Norwegian wizard and asked, "So how come you don't have a problem wearing these geta?"

"Lots of practice," the wizard replied. "Oh, and I guess there's always that charm I use to make them feel like a pair of trainers."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Oh, you….." She grabbed the green-kimono wearing wizard behind a large bush and said, "Fix…mine…now."

"Yes, Ambassador Granger," the older man said with a smile.

With the charm thus cast, they returned to the first tee, where a brisk pace down the fairway allowed them to quickly catch up with the other two. Ten minutes later, they discovered the Supreme Mugwump standing fifty yards away from a large pond, dressed in formal High Priest robes. There was a golf club in his hand and a caddy by his side.

"Let me approach him first," the Emperor's Wizard said. He then walked the last few yards up to the other wizard and politely announced his presence. After formal greetings were exchanged, the Emperor's Wizard asked,

"What are you doing, Aoki-sensei?"

"Testing my efforts to calm the water spirits," the elderly Supreme Mugwump replied. "They have been quick to anger these past few days, rising up whenever they are showered by golf balls."

The wizard tossed a golf ball onto the ground and, without much thought, lined up his shot and swung. He scowled as the ball sailed over the water.

"It appears that the kami are insistent on helping me lower my handicap," he lamented.

"Sensei?"

The Supreme Mugwump turned towards the Emperor's Wizard. "You don't golf, do you Matsuhisa-san?"

"No sensei…but perhaps one of my companions does?"

The gray-haired wizard looked over his colleagues shoulder.

"Who are they, Matsuhisa-san?"

"The King's Wizard from Norway, and an emissary from the muggle government of the United Kingdom."

"Muggle government?" asked the Supreme Mugwump. "Is she magical?"

"Yes, sensei…Ambassador Granger speaks on behalf of the British Prime Minister, and is the consort of their Queen's wizard."

"Is that so?" the Supreme Mugwump asked. "Well, this is her nation's sport…perhaps the young witch could aid us?"

The Emperor's Wizard bowed. "I will ask, sensei."

The short bald wizard walked back to Hermione and her escort.

"The Supreme Mugwump wishes to know if you golf, Ambassador Granger."

"Really?" asked Hermione. She watched as the Supreme Mugwump swung his sand wedge and lofted yet another golf ball straight towards the pond. As the ball reached the apex of its flight path, a strong gust of wind carried the ball forward, where it landed forty yards beyond the water hazard.

"I've played a few times with my father," she replied. "Why?"

"The Supreme Mugwump spoke with the kappa that live in that pond this morning, and they promised to behave," said the Emperor's Wizard. "He is now trying, rather unsuccessfully, to test the strength of that agreement, but the wind is lifting every ball he hits over the hazard."

"And he's asking if I can shank a golf ball into the water?" Hermione asked.

When the Emperor's Wizard nodded, the young witch thought about the situation.

"It is true that I am better at hitting water than fairways," she noted. But then she remembered reading about the web-fingered monkey-like beasts in question, and nodded.

"I think that I might be able to help," Hermione told the Emperor's Wizard.

As the others followed behind, Hermione approached the head of the ICW and bowed towards him and his acolyte caddy. When the caddy bowed and held the golf clubs out for her inspection, she reached not for a short iron, but for the Supreme Mugwump's telescoping ball retriever.

Once a spell pinned the hem of her garments up against her bared knees, Hermione slipped off her socks and sandals, then walked barefoot up to the bank of the pond. Once she spotted a white golf ball she waded into the water and scooped the ball out of the mud. Hermione then spied a second ball a few feet further down the shoreline, and waded towards it, splashing water in the process.

After making a complete circuit of the pond's perimeter, the young witch returned to a bemused Supreme Mugwump with a dozen balls cradled in the folds of her robes. She conjured a small wicker basket, then dumped the balls into it and offered them to the elderly wizard.

"It appears, at least to my untrained eye, that the Supreme Mugwump has indeed restored balance and brought peace to these links."

The old man smiled and nodded in appreciation of Hermione's ingenuity. As kappa tended to attack those humans who waded along a water body's shoreline, she had tested the passivity of the kappa better than any golf shot could have done.

Once Hermione unpinned her robes, fetched her socks and sandles, and returned the ball retriever to the caddy, she bowed again to the Supreme Mugwump and introduced herself.

"It is rare these days to get magical visitors for Britain," the wizard noted. "What brings you half-way around the world, my child?"

"I bring greetings from Her Majesty's Government, and congratulations on your election to the vaulted position of Supreme Mugwump." She then looked back towards the protocol officer, who had been tasked with holding one of the boxed fish. When he stepped forward she added, "I also have a small gift to offer…omiyagi, I think it's called?"

"Thank you," the wizard replied, as he took the long rectangular box from the muggle's hands. Once he opened it up and spied the still-flapping fish, he arched one eyebrow and asked, "Is this salmon native to Britain?"

"I am not certain about salmon in general," Hermione replied. "This fish, though, was caught in Alaska, in between portkey jumps."

"A witch with many talents…you catch fish in Alaska, and golf balls in Japan," the old man quipped.

Hermione waited until she heard the Emperor's Wizard's laugh from behind before she allowed herself to smile and nod in recognition of the Supreme Mugwump's joke.

"Come, Ambassador," the elderly wizard said. "Walk with me to the clubhouse. The sushi chef there will do honor to your gift, and you can tell me the real reasons behind your visit."

oo00OO00oo

Thirty minutes later, a kneeling Hermione Granger squirmed in pain as the Supreme Mugwump silently reviewed the evidence that she had placed before him. They had been shown to a private tatami-matted room within the golf course's clubhouse, and the thin cushions that served in lieu of chairs were meant to cushion knees, rather than bums. Seeing the tell-tale signs of legs falling asleep, the Norwegian King's Wizard took pity on her and caught her attention . Drawing his wand from his sleeve, Thorson pointed it towards his knees and silently jerked his head her way. Hermione raised her eyebrows, and nodded as she mouthed the words, "Yes, please."

The limbering charm that was wordlessly cast instantly soothed the pain in Hermione's legs, and earned the elderly wizard a smile and a mouthed "Thank You!"

Having finished his careful review of the documents and photographs that detailed both the successful and unsuccessful bank robberies, the Supreme Mugwump turned his attention to two stoppered vials.

"These vials…they hold memories, to be viewed in a…you call them pensieves, no?"

"Yes, Supreme Mugwump."

The ancient wizard frowned. "We do not use this type of magic in Japan…did you bring the viewing device with you?"

Hermione's eyes darkened with worry. "No, sir, I am sorry…I did not."

Waving off her concern, the wizard replied. "Do not worry, child…it is my opinion that the documents and affidavit from your goblins is sufficient to begin an official inquiry."

"Thank you, sir," Hermione replied. "May I arrange for a pensieve to be delivered here for your use?"

The Supreme Mugwump shook his head. "These memories…they may be reviewed in your country by the team sent to investigate." The elderly wizard then turned towards the other three in the room and began speaking in Japanese.

"Matsuhisa-san?"

"Yes, Sensei?"

"I would be pleased to see you released from your duties within the Imperial Household for a few days, so that you might lead this inquiry."

The Emperor's Wizard looked towards his minder. Though he would have ignored the muggle's protests had they been expressed, he was pleased to see the man give him a curt nod. The wizard then bowed towards the Supreme Mugwump and asked, "When do you wish me to leave for Britain, Sensei?"

"As soon as possible, Matsuhisa-san," the ancient wizard replied. "I leave selection of the other investigators to you."

"I am honored by your confidence in me, Sensei," the Emperor's Wizard stated. He then added, "Are our eyes to be focused only on the issue before you?"

The Supreme Mugwump sighed, and then replied, "The eyes of the wizarding world have been diverted from Britain for far too long, Matsuhisa-san…go there with sharpened sword blades and eyes wide open."

"As you wish, Sensei."

The Supreme Mugwump then switched back to English and turned to Hermione. "I have asked the Emperor's Wizard to assemble a team to investigate this issue for me. May I count on the cooperation of your country's muggle government?"

"Thank you Sir," Hermione replied. "I will do all that I can to ensure that the Emperor's Wizard's team has a pleasant and productive stay."

With a nod of his head, the Supreme Mugwump clapped his hands together. A rice-papered door slid to one side of the wall, and two beautiful kimono-clad woman bowed low as they placed a huge boat-shaped platter in the room. The women then climbed up onto the raised platform floor, and carried the tray over to the table.

Hermione's eyes were immediately drawn to the tray, where the head of the fish that she had given to the Supreme Mugwump sat as the centerpiece to an ornate display of sushi and sashimi. Thick slices of dark red salmon were arranged in small fans of flesh, while other pieces of salmon meat sat on small beds of rice as pieces of sushi. There were also seaweed-wrapped pieces of sushi topped with raw red red eggs, leading Hermione to suspect that her catch had been female.

When she heard the men and the room grunt and groan with excitement she thought that they were ogling the two women, but when Hermione looked up she realized that her companion's eyes were zeroed in on the tray of food.

Looking at the eating utensils set on the sides of the tray Hermione became nervous. Though her parents were well-off dentists and she had eaten out quite often as a child, she had never taken to chopsticks, and always insisted on eating Chinese food the way that "normal" English restaurant patrons did.

"We hope that it is not too early for your lunch, Ambassador," the Emperor's Wizard said, as he handed her a table setting.

"It's actually closer to a midnight snack, given the time difference," she replied. She then took hold of the wooden utensils and looked at the King's Wizard with slightly pleading eyes.

"Sorry, Ambassador," he said. "I don't know any chopsticks charms."

oo00OO00oo

Wednesday, July 11, 0315 GMT
Palace at Holyrood House, Edinburgh

Harry Potter's vibrating Art Club badge woke him from the restless sleep that had claimed his consciousness. He sat up, lifting his head off the opened page of a briefing book, and activated his badge.

"Erm…hullo?" he asked groggily.

"Hey, Harry, it's me…Hermione."

"Hermione? Where are you?"

"I'm back in Oslo."

"Oslo?" Why didn't you call sooner?"

"I've been trying, but you fell asleep, silly," Hermione replied.

"Oh," Harry replied. "So when do you think you'll be back home…I mean here at Holyrood?"

"Oh, Harry…you know that home is wherever you are…and I'll be there in a few seconds if you let me use you as an anchor point for a badge jump."

"Oh yeah, that's right…go ahea…."

Hermione suddenly appeared in their guest quarters, still dressed in kimono, and carrying a large bag.

"Hey, honey, I'm home," she said, dropping the bag and holding her arms out towards her boyfriend.

Startled at the sight of the wide white sleeves that hung like wings from her arms, Harry asked, "Hermione, why do you look like an angel?"

"Oh, Harry, you say the sweetest things," his Consort replied, as she wrapped those wings around him. She then added, "These are the robes that witches wear in Japan."

Nodding, Harry sleepily asked, "So how did it go?"

"It went great," Hermione replied. "I did a little fishing, played a little golf…"

"Huh?"

"Ssshh," Hermione replied, as she kissed him on the cheek. "We can talk in the morning. Right now we should try to sleep…busy day coming up."

"Okay," Harry replied, as he pulled back from Hermione and plopped down on the bed. He looked once more at Hermione's outfit through heavy eyelids and asked, "So that's what you wear when you're a witch in Japan?"

Hermione nodded.

"How about changing into…what you wear…when you're a witch…in our bedroom?" he asked, yawning in between words.

The Special Ambassador the Wizarding World cocked her head to one side, then smiled. Not even trying to undo all of the knots to her outfit by hand, she banished her Japanese attire into her wardrobe.

"Yea!" Harry said with a sleepy smile, as Hermione walked over to the bed dressed only in her red thong.

"You are too cute when you're half-asleep," she noted, as she pulled down the covers.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly. "Too…too…too tired to catch the snitch tonight."

Hermione smiled as she banished Harry's clothes to a hamper and pulled him into bed.

"That's okay," she replied, as she pulled his head to her chest. "Just catch some sleep instead."

oo00OO00oo

A/N:The Old Believers and North American Confederation were borrowed from Dr. T's body of work. Lake Wobegon was borrowed from Garrison Keillor and Google Earth is an awesome resource.